United Nations: The Indian government’s “zero casualty” policy for cyclones and the pinpoint accuracy of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) early warning system have helped reduce the possibility of deaths from cyclone Fani, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (ODRR).
“They seem to have done a very good job in terms of minimising the possibility for loss of life,” Denis McClean, a spokesperson for the ODRR said at a UN news briefing in Geneva on Friday.
“The almost pinpoint accuracy of the warnings, the early warnings from the IMD, allows them to conduct a very well targeted evacuation plan which resulted in 1.1 million people mainly moving to about 900 cyclone shelters.”
As of Saturday morning, less than 10 deaths were reported from the 175-kmph cyclone that made landfall in Odisha on Friday.
India’s policy of minimising fatalities from cyclones has been proven by past performances as in cyclone Phailin in 2013, when “famously the casualty rate was kept to as low as 45 despite the intensity of the storm”, McClean said.
Clare Nullis, a spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), said that as a result of the lessons learned from the super cyclonic storm BOB06 that caused more than 10,000 deaths, intensive precautions are being taken to protect the people. She also mentioned how as a result, Phailin’s fatalities were far less than in 1999.
UN’s humanitarian agencies had met ahead of cyclone Fani to take stock of preparedness measures, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a briefing in New York.
The UN’s relief organisations’ resources are already stretched bringing aid to countries in East Africa reeling from a double punch delivered by cyclones Idai and Kenneth in the past two months.
Extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani made landfall on the eastern coast wreaking havoc in Odisha on Friday. Despite extensive damage caused by near 200 mph winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall, no loss of life has been reported so far.
India has evacuated over one million people on Friday living on the outskirts of Konark in the eastern state of Odisha. More than 1 million people have been evacuated from the vulnerable districts in last 24hrs. Ganjam & Puri evacuated more than 3 lakh & 1.3 lakh people respectively to safe shelters. About 5000 kitchens started operating to serve people in the shelters.
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